Prayer - Almighty God, Our Father, Another Day Has Opened for Us,

Almighty God, our Father, another day has opened for us, and we would begin it with You. If we have a little talk with You, we shall be ready to go forth to our work. If we can look into Your face and have You look into our face -- we shall not be afraid to go out to meet any danger.

We thank You for the rest of the past night. Many have died since the sun went down -- but we have been spared. Now we would give ourselves to You for this new day. We would make it a holy day, and we ask You for grace to do so. May Your word be a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path. May its teachings be in our hearts, and may we have grace to follow them. Order our steps according to Your word. Let no iniquity have dominion over us. Take not Your Holy Spirit from us. Restore to us the joy of Your salvation.

Our trust is only in Jesus Christ. We are unworthy in ourselves, for we have sinned and our hearts are evil. But Jesus died for us, and in His name we come, asking for Your favor and blessing. We thank You for Your love, from which neither death nor life can separate us. May we abide in Your love, and may Your peace be upon us always.

We ask a blessing for all with whom we associate in our common days. Make them all Your friends. Draw them all to Yourself. Help us so to walk before You, that our example shall impress them, and make them think of God and heavenly realities. May we speak Your words to those who are in sorrow or in sin -- and may Your grace and peace pass through us to many. We put our hands now into Yours as we go out. Lead us, bless us, keep us, use us! We ask in Jesus' precious name. Amen.

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FRIDAY EVENING

We wait at Your feet, O God, for Your blessing at the close of this day. The darkness is around us -- but the darkness and the light are both alike to You. Your care is as perfect and as full of blessings, in the shadows of the night -- as in the sunshine of the day.

This has been a profitable day to us. We have been led by You along paths we did not know ourselves, and could not have found but for Your guidance. Forgive us if we were not willing at every step, to take Your way. If any of us have gotten off the road, out of the path, forgive us, and bring us back again before we sleep. We want to take Your plan for our life, and we do not want to mar it by rebelling against You and choosing our own foolish way.

Now at the close of the day, we lay all our work before You. Nothing is finished, until it has Your blessing. Bless the work of our hands. Correct the mistakes. Fill up the beauty of which we have sketched only the barest outlines in our poor efforts. Make all our work holy, and take it into Your own hands, to become part of Your work, to be wrought into Your great plan.

We ask You to bless to others whom we have met today, the influence of our lives upon them. Wherein we have not lived so as to represent Jesus truly to others -- may you forgive us. Let no evil influence, go out from our errors.

We pray for all our friends everywhere. We pray for the sick, for the lonely who keep their watch tonight, for the sailor on the sea, for the tempted, the weary, the sorrowing. We ask all these blessings in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.